Tree concerns sprout in Mandurah following Tuart tree removal rejection

Nearby residents Ms and Mr McNamara said they are in the same boat as Ms McGinnis, with a 30-metre tall Tuart right in front of the house.

The couple said the tree is a ‘nightmare’, dropping branches and nuts in four properties surrounding their house.

However, their main concern is tree branches falling down and injuring their grandchildren playing outside or students walking over to Dudley Park Primary School.

“It is a danger,” Mr McNamara said.

“We get quite a lot of south west winds blowing this way, if that came down the worst thing it could do is kill someone and the least it could do is block the road off.”

The couple tried to get the tree removed, but after an arborist checked the Tuart the City decided it was healthy to stay.

Since then, the couple have had to buy a pressure hose to clean their driveway several times a week, have had to get their driveway repaved and live in constant fear of branches dropping and injuring a passerby.

Meadow Springs resident Pam Sutton had to move out of her Parklands property in 2012 after a branch fell from a tall Tuart tree and only missed her by a few centimeters.

Following the incident, she tried to get council approval to remove the tree, but after it was checked by an arborist it was deemed to be safe to stay, prompting her to move out of the property.

The day after Ms Sutton vacated the property, half of the tree fell down due to strong winds in the area, crushing a nearby shed and causing several dollars in damages.

“Upon examination they saw it had termites and that’s why it broke,” Ms Sutton said.

But, according to Ms Sutton, it had not been detected by the arborist, who had only conducted external examinations failing to see the damage termites were causing to the Tuart.

“They don’t realise that the damage these trees can do,” she said.

“It’s too late now but development in these Tuart forests should have never been allowed.”

In February this year, Halls Head resident Karen Sanders also aired her concerns about two nearby Casuarina trees which had spread their roots, lifting bricks and causing Ms Sanders ongoing grief.

The City did not comment on Ms Sanders’ request to remove the tree.

When asked about their policy on tree removal, City of Mandurah acting chief Allan Claydon said any decision was guided by the City’s environmental policies which regulate environmental protection and natural conservation.

Mr Claydon said the City was working hard to keep as many mature trees as possible and he said they believed mature trees benefited both the community and the environment.

He also said Ms McGinnis’ tree had been assessed by a professional arborist who determined the tree could live for another 50 to 100 years, while there was was no evidence to suggest any tree branches would fall in the near future.

“In order for the tree to be removed, it would require planning approval due to the Development Assessment Panel (DAP) specifically highlighting retention of the tree,” he said.

“The tree is a City asset on council-managed property which the Council wants to protect, rather than a tree on private land that we are preventing the resident from removing."